Past and Presence

for my daughter, who hates to have her picture taken

 

 

 

If words could hold this world

They would bend themselves to one    

Transparency.

        Henry Rago, “The Knowledge of Light”

 

  

It is one thing to have now a sense of color

And composition, how all the poses of light

And shadow are altogether more revealing

Than each alone; and how if your face were

Tilted a shade to one side, your eyes would

 

Be seen not to follow me but through me and

Beyond the edges of my frame of reference;

How there would be something in the way

Your hands are folded around what you are

Holding back, keeping you safe from all that

 

Others have tried to make and take of it, of you.

But my own hands have no gift for portraiture,

Not even yours, and so I make of you instead

This small sketching in black and white of words

That (please forgive me) seem much more like me

 

Than you.  And perhaps now there is nothing 

To be said, having come at last past any need of

Portraits or poems for recollection and reflection,

Remembering instead, apart and together, how our

Each moment appears and simply speaks for itself.





Poetry by countryfog
Read 788 times
Written on 2015-04-21 at 17:46

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Nils Teodor The PoetBay support member heart!
Very well written
Thanks for sharing your
beautiful words
2015-04-22



A portrait in words:)
2015-04-22



I've often thought that taking a camera with me when I go hiking or visit some tourist site is a mistake. It makes me spend too much time trying to get the camera to do what I do naturally: make a memory. The time people spend focusing and framing and posing could have been better spent taking in their surroundings and luxuriating in the beauty.

This is a wonderful poem that seems totally original and thoughtfully conceived and crafted. Bravo.
2015-04-22


LeMoustache
Wow it is really good, you are a master in writing poetry. Keep on going and I really like the quote above the poem. It has touch me!
2015-04-22


josephus The PoetBay support member heart!
Once again you have captured a dimension, in a way that only you can, that leaves me startled, awakened and pondering. I would not dishonor you by stealing this to send to my children but my attempts to imitate what you have done here would fall miserably short and dull comparatively.

I thoroughly dislike having my I true taken however I'm comfortable with self portraits such as the atavars we use here.

So much of the photographer's art is taking the subject as an object of his own to shape to to become his vision of what the subject should be. The subject, especially in portraiture, can feel as though their essence is lost in the photo. In fact it's not, it's just the essence seen, valued and captured by the image maker.
2015-04-22


Jamsbo Rockda The PoetBay support member heart!
How beautiful. I do not like having mine taken either. Thanks for sharing this personal piece.
2015-04-22


Lawrence Beck The PoetBay support member heart!
A wise poem, nicely written, Fog. With family, there (often) is that familiarity which makes it so that

Each moment appears and simply speaks for itself.

But, of course, ultimately, however well you know someone,

This small sketching in black and white of words
That (please forgive me) seem much more like me

Than you.
2015-04-22


shells
The title and the final line bring it altogether, beautifully.
2015-04-22